Precious Memories
by Lieutenant Caine
Summary: For a young reporter, Alexx' memories are more than just news. They are priceless treasures.


**Precious Memories**

**A/N My usage of title is done so with the utmost respect for the old sacred hymn by the same name. In no way do I mean any sacrilege toward it or any other iconic religious symbol.**

**Giving a shout out to one of my most loyal readers… Speed this one is a direct result of your recent one-shot "Already Taken". You referenced 'origin stories' in that one. I love to write 'behind the scenes' kind of tales. Thanks for the inspiration. **

**Cal, love you tons. Thanks for being my personal spell check.**

**Lieutenant Caine**

Alexx sat on the front porch in her usual place, rocking and singing softly to herself. More than 20 years had passed since the CSI team had been disbanded after the death of both Horatio and Calleigh in a firefight with the Mala Noche. Natalia had taken over the team briefly, but it was only a matter of time before the remaining members had transferred out to other departments, leaving MDPD no other choice but to shut down the CSI unit. Time had eventually taken most of them away from Miami, and the fame of the once storied MDPD crime lab slowly faded from public consciousness.

Slender fingers curled delicately around the mint julep sparkling in the tall, frosted glass in Alexx' hand and a smile curved her lips.

"So you want to do a story on the Miami CSI unit headed by Horatio Caine, eh?"

"Yes Ma'am. I'd like to write a story about them; a story about the people behind the badges. Miami knows what they did as a CSI team, but very little is known about who they really were. "

The younger man sitting in the chair next to Alexx was a reporter with the Miami Herald, and was looking for a story to advance his career beyond its current condition of stalemate. His research had led him to Alexx Woods, former ME of the Miami-Dade Crime lab and one of the few original team members still living.

"Well, son, I hope you've got a while," Alexx smiled her gentle smile, closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the white wicker rocker. She pulled her shawl snug about her shoulders and hummed another bit of "Precious Memories" before beginning.

"I was just out of med school the first time I met Horatio Caine. He was young then and so very handsome. He looked like some Greek god with that trim physique of his and that fiery red hair. He was new to our section of the building and was trying to look confident in spite of the fact that he was totally lost and didn't even know the way back to his own office. But would he ask for directions? No. I had to laugh at his stubborn determination to be all self-sufficient. Eventually I approached him and introduced myself.

_Good morning, Lieutenant. I'm Dr. Alexx Woods your ME. _

_Dr. Woods, my pleasure. I trust you have the toxicology report on the victim in the Robens case?_

_Yes, I do, sugar._

_I beg your pardon? Did you call me "sugar"?_

_Yes. Is there a problem, Lieutenant?_

_That might be interpreted as…_

_Honey, you are way too uptight. If I decide to harass you, you'll know it, not that I'm not tempted mind you. However, you are my boss, and as such I have no end of respect for you. But I will not change the way I talk, even for you. These little terms of endearment are as much a part of me as your red hair is a part of you._

Alexx chuckled at the memory before she went on with her story.

"It took him a while, but he eventually got used to my southern ways and it wasn't long before he was using at least one little pet term himself. 'Sweetheart', he used to say, mostly to Calleigh."

A strange look came into Alexx' eyes and the reporter stopped writing for a moment, content to watch as Alexx relived another far distant memory from years past.

"Calleigh. Sweet Calleigh. She was always the firecracker of the team…in more ways than one. She was tenacious as a kudzu vine and as beautiful as a rose, without the thorns. No one ever got the drop on Calleigh. Several of them tried, and to a man they paid for their mistakes. Stetler was always trying to use her against Horatio, but it always backfired on him and he ended up looking like the fool. And her tender side…After the Randy North case, she fell so in love with Randy's two kids that she adopted them and raised them into fine upstanding members of society. They probably would have ended up much like their father if Calleigh hadn't stepped into their lives. She gave them the stability and love they needed after their whole world had been upended by their dad's criminal activities."

"And was there ever a relationship between Lieutenant Caine and Ms. Duquesne?" the young reporter ventured.

"Was there a relationship? Does a compass point north, baby? Need I say more?"

"And how did the rest of the team feel about that?"

"Well, as you might guess, with both of them so young and attractive there was more than enough jealousy to go around. Every female on staff tried every way known to woman to catch Horatio Caine's attention, but nothing ever worked. From the first time he laid eyes on Calleigh he never saw anyone else. And Calleigh…oh my goodness, Calleigh Marie." Alexx chuckled to herself at some private thought before continuing with her story.

"From the first day that Calleigh came on board with the team she was never far from Horatio's side, and I knew almost immediately that there was more than a mentor/student thing going on between them. One time, probably two or three years after Calleigh arrived she came to me with a seriously sore back and wanted me to prescribe her something for the pain. I refused to write the script until she told me what she had done. Boy was I in for a surprise with that one! Calleigh didn't say a word, just turned around and raised the back of her shirt."

"And…?" the reporter asked, wide-eyed with anticipation.

"There was a bruise across her entire back…in the shape of the front grill of a Hummer."

"Hummer?"

"Yes, we used Hummers as county vehicles in those days before gas became so ridiculously expensive. Anyway, Calleigh blushed deep red and then explained to me how she came to have such a distinctive pattern across her lower back."

"And how DID she get that mark, Ms. Woods?"

"Apparently Horatio couldn't wait until they got home that evening. He drove them out to the glades and did a little private "investigation" of Calleigh's person."

The reporter almost choked on the drink of mojito he had just taken. "You mean, they…?" His voice rose comically and his eyebrows flew into his hairline. "They had…"

"You stop right there, young pup." Alexx' voice cracked but then steadied and she shook a finger in the young man's face. "That particular piece of information had better not ever appear in print, or I'll come after you. I may be old now, and losing my eyesight, but I still have connections, and I'll find you if you print it."

"But what am I going to print?"

"You can put down that they loved each other…deeply and truly. Even when it looked like the job and life in general had torn them apart, they still loved each other. There were those years when it looked like it was over for them. Horatio even got married once. It lasted all of 8 hours and ended in a hail of bullets. Marisol, his wife was gunned down by the Mala Noches and I really think he would have grieved forever if Calleigh hadn't been there for him. After he lost Mari, he and Cal became inseparable again. They were together right up to the end when they both faced the Noches for the last time and died in each other's arms. They're buried together you know, right next to Marisol."

Alexx coughed a bit, pulled her shawl tighter around her shoulders and launched into her memories of the rest of the team. Shadows of twilight were stealing over the land before the aging doctor finished her verbal reminiscence about her former team members.

Frank Tripp had passed on some 10 years earlier after a lengthy battle with cancer. Eric Delko had met his end diving for sunken treasure. His air line had become tangled in an outcropping of coral and before his diving partner realized he was in trouble, Eric had drowned before Felipe could cut him free. Ryan Wolfe had lapsed back into his sins of an earlier life and was currently languishing in the Florida State Penitentiary for crimes he'd committed while in the service of the Russian Mob. Natalia Boa Vista, the only other one still living in Miami had enjoyed a successful career as a fashion designer and had only recently retired after amassing a small fortune.

"I still see Nat from time to time. She comes to see me on my birthday and on Mother's Day."

Alexx lapsed into silence then, and closed her eyes and before long the soft even sound of her breathing told her visitor that she had fallen asleep.

He finished writing down notes on the things he especially wanted to remember and then carefully stood up.

"Thanks, Alexx." He whispered softly. Careful not to waken her, he reached down and tucked the shawl more securely around the thin, frail shoulders, and then he bent over and placed a soft kiss against her forehead. "Mom and dad loved you… and so do I."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

One week later the story ran on the front page of the morning edition.

The by line read:

Kenneth Ray Caine

Reporter: Miami Herald


End file.
